During my interview process at Disney, I faced three panel interviews. In the first session, the interviewer unintentionally revealed something pivotal—“Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh was their all-time favorite business book due to its nostalgic significance from their time at Zappos. Upon hearing this, I promptly purchased the book from Amazon and read it thoroughly before my next interaction with this interviewee.
This book reviews how the former CEO of Zappos.com outlines the journey of building a company culture centered on happiness and exceptional customer service. It details how Hsieh invested in company culture and customer satisfaction as primary drivers of business success, ultimately leading Zappos to substantial growth and a significant acquisition by Amazon.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and compared it to how I had led teams in the past, while also making commitments to my future direct reports. Here are some key takeaways from “Delivering Happiness” that can be applied in various professional contexts, including leadership, customer service, and team management:
Company Culture as a Competitive Advantage
Hsieh emphasizes that a strong, positive company culture can be a significant competitive advantage. By focusing on creating an environment where employees are happy and engaged, companies can achieve higher productivity, innovation, and customer satisfaction. Leaders are encouraged to actively shape and invest in their organization’s culture to align with core values and business goals.
But what if you work in a remote setting? How do you create a culture of cohesion and togetherness when everyone is disconnected?
On our team, we work hard to prioritize culture and interaction. We’ve automated a Slack Bot to prompt daily Questions of the Day, “Get up and Stretch” moments, and even have various sub-channels where we have book clubs, share pictures of the food we’re eating, and talk about our lives.
Empowerment and Autonomy for Employees
Empowering employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work leads to greater job satisfaction and better customer experiences. Hsieh describes how Zappos employees are encouraged to go above and beyond for customers, making independent decisions without strict scripts or guidelines, fostering a sense of ownership and creativity.
For my team at Disney, I recently sent out a survey with 38 questions across six categories:
Team Atmosphere & Culture
Growth & Learning
Efficiency & Productivity
Work-life Balance & Challenges
Leadership Support & Communication
Desired Improvements & Additional Comments
These questions were sent to 13 of my direct reports and yielded 37 pages of feedback, which I was thrilled to receive!
While 37 pages may sound daunting, it reassured me that my team felt comfortable sharing what worked and what didn’t on our team.
It’s important to note that not all of the feedback could result in change, but it was helpful to see the pain points they were working through. This feedback helped garner 14 projects, 12 of which were implemented and changed within 2 months of the survey’s release.
Continuous Growth and Learning
“Delivering Happiness” also highlights the importance of continuous personal and professional growth. Zappos invests in employee development through training programs, encouraging experimentation, and learning from mistakes. This focus on growth helps maintain a dynamic and innovative company culture where continuous improvement is a shared goal.
This has been the hardest hurdle to overcome in my current role because the company went through a series of layoffs not too long ago and was put into a hiring freeze. Because of this, upward or even lateral movement was nearly completely halted, and the stagnation was felt not just among my team but company-wide.
My colleagues and I collaborated to create opportunities that simulate the feeling of growth, even when direct promotions weren’t possible. We established a Project Hub where employees can sign up for projects in various skill sets, such as creative writing, project management, culture development, technical writing, and editing. Our goal was to help them grow by providing relevant experience, so when the freeze is lifted, we can continue to support them and propel them to bigger and better opportunities!
Although it’s not my favorite leadership/business book I’ve read, it definitely helped set the foundation for my time at Disney so far. “Delivering Happiness” provides valuable insights into building a company that thrives by prioritizing happiness and a strong company culture. These principles are not only applicable to startups or customer service-oriented businesses but can be adapted by leaders across all sectors to enhance their team’s engagement, customer satisfaction, and overall business performance.